No Time To Die briefly introduces audiences to Paloma (Ana de Armas), and her character needs to return in Bond 26 even more than M or Q. The latest James Bond film follows the titular MI6 agent (Daniel Craig) as he once again comes out of retirement to combat the forces of international terror and villainy. Believing that he was betrayed by his love, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Bond goes into hiding in Jamaica, but he is tracked down by his old friend from the CIA, Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who requests Bond's help in recovering a bioweapon and the scientist who created it from Cuba. After learning more about the weapon, Bond agrees to meet Felix's contact.
In Cuba, Bond encounters one of No Time To Die's most interesting characters, CIA agent Paloma. Arresting and innocently charming, Paloma mentions to Bond's great chagrin that she has only had three weeks of training. When the action kicks off, however, the young CIA agent demonstrates high proficiency in both hand-to-hand combat and gunfighting–so much so that Bond makes a dry reference to her "three weeks" of training with the implication that he knows she's had far more. Indeed, Paloma helps Bond battle off hordes of Spectre henchmen before capturing the escaping scientist herself and assisting in the getaway.
Unfortunately, Paloma is gone all too quickly, and she doesn't return for the remainder of No Time To Die. The mysterious spy leaves audiences with a sense of intrigue, and to never bring her back would be something a disservice to de Armas' spectacular performance of the alluring character. It would also mean that the franchise would miss out on a perfect way to introduce more capable women into the series, a goal that should not end with No Time To Die.
Ana de Armas undeniably nails her portrayal of Paloma. The role calls for a nuanced balance between feigned naivete and innocent flirtatiousness which is later contrasted with the character's obvious capability. From starting to awkwardly undress Bond to mowing down Spectre goons, Paloma's short stint on screen is so stuffed full of character development that she leaves both audiences and her fellow agents surprised by her complexity. Even Bond is impressed when she creatively apprehends the scientist by crashing her car through the scaffolding he's fleeing on, a move reminiscent of 007 himself. De Armas' performance hints at a charming femme fatale underneath Paloma's surface harmlessness, but before the audience can properly appreciate her, she is gone without a trace.
The James Bond franchise tries to include more capable women in No Time To Die, like Lashana Lynch's character, Nomi, who takes up the mantle of 007 when Bond retires from MI6. This is absolutely a worthwhile endeavor for a film series with a reputation of marginalizing women, and de Armas' Paloma is another perfect way for them to do so. Unlike Nomi, who operates by the book in stark contrast to her predecessor's methods, Paloma is more of a loose cannon akin to Bond's style. Charming, manipulative, and utterly lethal, Paloma is essentially a female version of Bond, and that dynamic is perhaps the truest version of equality the franchise could achieve. To not bring her character back in later films would be to waste the perfect opportunity, not to have a woman replace James Bond, but to equal him in both wit and capability.
It's unclear what direction the franchise will take 007 in Bond 26, but the cast could at least partially carry over from the most recent movie. There are a number of roles Paloma could fill from replacing Felix as the new Bond's CIA contact to potentially serving as a love interest for whoever fills the part. Whatever she ends up being, Ana de Armas' Paloma should not end with No Time To Die and deserves to make an appearance in Bond 26.